For American mothers day on sunday my two really small kiddos got me the most awesome gift I could ever wish for!! A 1.4 lens for my camera! It’s a lens I have wanted since I started this Blog back in September. To be honest, I didn’t really know quite how much of a difference it would make to my photos–I only knew that if it was the lens all my really good photographer friends use and rave about, and if it was THAT expensive, then it HAD to be good, and holy smokes was that an understatement!

My friend Keitra asked if I would do her senior photos on monday, which is the same day my lens arrived! (My husband was pretending he got me a snow cone machine so I could make them for him all the time–but when the package came it was way too small for that!) This was a much better gift!! Anyway, I decided since it was such a better lens to the one I had been using, that I would just go for it–and i’m SO glad I did!!! It has made ALL the difference to my photos. I feel as if i’m finally getting to the point where I can call myself a photographer after this session.

Except, I have to admit, these gorgeous photos were definitely NOT a result of all me!! Keitra is absolutely flawless (I didn’t do ONE single touch up to her!) And her mum is an ex-model, so she came along and helped with poses, and put the wardrobe together and even chose the place! So basically, it was a whole lot of THEM, a whole lot of awesome equipment, and a little bit of me! I still want to take credit though, because these are by far the best photos I have ever taken! I LOVE them all!

I love both the black and whites and color versions, so they both went in! The apple orchard where I live actually belongs to Keitra’s family, so it was kind of cool to take pictures of her in it, since she grew up playing in it.A GORGEOUS editorial picture. Probably my fave. Not very senior-portrait-y, but too stunning not to include! Another fave! She looks like Taylor Swift so these country pictures are perfect!! I used photoshop to paint the 2012! At least I can claim I had a couple things to do with how awesome these turned out!!

Thanks to Keitra for being the PERFECT subject, and to Gigi for finding this awesome place!! Oh, and of course, thanks to my husband who brought me the lens just in time! I can’t WAIT to experiment more with it!

Great photos! Glad you got such an awesome gift! Too bad you didn’t have it in Hawaii. Keitra is gorgeous and I especially love the pictures where she is smiling with her teeth. She has a beautiful smile! Nice job!